Your baby this week2 weeks pregnant

See day by day:

From the boards

"My husband got his [sperm] test results back and they are awesome! 130 mil! They said that is SUPER high. They look for 30 mil. Mobility is good, defects are few. So now its just nature, egg quality and time." - Kathi, on her husband's fertility sperm testing

In the know

A follicle is the fluid-filled sac in the ovary that sustains the ripening ovum, and from which the ovum is released during ovulation. The follicle is stimulated to release the ovum by a hormone called FSH (for, believe it or not, Follicle Stimulating Hormone) which is made by the pituitary gland.

Twins in your future?

Dutch researchers have demonstrated for the first time that older women are more likely than younger women to have multiple ovulations in the same menstrual cycle, thus explaining why non-identical twins become more common as women approach the end of their reproductive life.

According to co-authors Homburg and Lambalk from the Reproductive Medicine Division at Vrije University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the findings give credence to previous theories that the rising concentrations of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)1 that occur as women age can cause some ovaries to go into overdrive, tripping them into a state where they have a simultaneous double ovulation.

Simple dinner idea

Looking for a quick, easy crock pot recipe? Check out Betsy's Hungarian Goulash right here. She says, "It's a crock pot recipe! What could be easier? I'll start this meal when I wake up in the morning, and won't have to mess with it again until a few minutes before we're ready to eat it. We LOVE this meal. I should make it every week during the winter."

No butts

Should you go out of your way to avoid all tobacco smoke exposure? In a study published in the online journal BMC Pediatrics, Stephen G Grant, PhD, associate professor of environmental and occupational health, reports that both active maternal smoking and secondary maternal exposure result in similarly increased rates of genetic mutation that are basically indistinguishable.

"This analysis shows not only that smoking during pregnancy causes genetic damage in the developing fetus that can be detected at birth, but also that passive or secondary -- exposure causes just as much damage as active smoking, and it is the same kind of damage," said Dr Grant, whose primary area of study is genotoxicity and the mechanisms of DNA repair.

"These kinds of mutations are likely to have lifelong repercussions for the exposed fetus, affecting survival, birth weight and susceptibility to disease, including cancer."